Plug-tobacco



C. C. DULA.

PLUG TOBACCO.

APPLICATION FILED 050.11. 1920.

1,365,969. Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

nutren tartar ortica.

'GALEB C. DULA., OF NEVJ YORK, lll'. Y., .SSGNOR '.i() LlGG-ETT et MYERS TOBACCO COM.. PANY, OF NEW YORBQN. Y., i CRPORATON Ulli' NEW JERSEY.

PLUG-TGBAGCO.

Application filed December l?, 1920.

tain new and useitul improvements in Plug-Y Tobacco, ot which the following isla specilication.

lf/ly present invention relatesV generally to i the manufacture ci plug tobacco toi chewing and smoking, either or both, and it has toi' its several objects to provide such a plug with an entirely new ller having distinct characteristics possessing marked advantages over the plug fillers heretofore known and now universally i'ound upon the market, and these advantages yrelate not only tok the chewing and smoking properties oi the tobacco, but they include also the important item ot reduced cost oi manuiacture.

One object of the invention is to provide a filler for plug tobacco wherein the tobacco constituting the iiller may be more readily and uniformly blended, and one that will retain its original conditioin i. e., its moisture, flavor and substance, for a greater length of time than plug tobacco composed oi tobacco strips or otherwise prepared in usual way. t

A still further and important object of the invention is to provide a plug-tobacco ller, which, although densely compressed or com pacted permits ot sections or slices being readily broken or cut'therefrom and which sections or slices may, by simple manipulation, be brought to a loose lluify condition best suited for smoking or chewing.

My improved plug tobacco has other more or less desirable characteristics which will be inade apparent in the detailed description to follow.

Briefly and generally stated iny new tobacco plug comprises a liller mass oi' long cut tobaccodensely compacted into plug, bar or cake i'orrn, and a tobacco-leaf wrapper inclosing the iiller and compressed there about, the whole constituting a plug from which a substantial number et smoking or` chewing charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, said removed charge portions being capable of manipulation to bring the shreds thereof into substantially their original fluffy condition.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to understand and practise my said in- Specflcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Serial No. 1,131,367.

vention, I will now proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made for this purpose to the accompanying d swing; whereinb igure l, is a perspective view oi a plug or bar of'tobacco made in accordance with the invention, one end thereof being in section to expose the tillen ld ig. 2, is an enlarged section ot a portion oit a plug or bar showing more clearly the .malte-up ot' the filler. Fig. 8, is a perspective view oi a chewing or smoking charge that has been removed, by cutting, fromthe pluv.

Fig. d, is a view of the removed charge after it has been rubbed between the hands showing how the filler may be rendered fluffy by simple manipulation to place it in condition for smoking in a pipe.

Plug tobacco as now manufactured is generally made from what are. known as strips, t'. e., tobacco leaves :trom which the stems or mid-ribs have been removed. rl'hese are removed either by hand or `by machine. Both methods add considerably to the cost of manufacturing the plugs and notwithstanding the care that is usually ei;- ercised in preparing the leaves, it is diiiicult to prevent some stems or stem-parts from finding their way into the finished plugs. T his is objectionable, notbecause the stems do not possess perfertly good smoking and chewing properties when properly prepared, but because they are tough and woody in tlieirfnatural state, and when sections or por* tions'fof appreciable length are found in plugs they detract materially from the value oit the product.

I have discovered after long and expen sive experiments that plug tobacco of superior quality ior both smoking and chewing', can be produced by making the filler trom long-cut tobacco and densely compressing or compacting the same into plugs, cakes oibars before the outer leaf wrappers are applied.

lly long-cut7 tobacco l mean whole or unstemmed leaves or leaf portions iinely cut transversely through the leaf-membrane as well as its stem or mid-rib and branch-ribs, so that the tine'strands or threads thus cut from the leaves carry very thin or film-like stem or mid-rib and branch-rib sections, the presence of which, when prepared accord ing to my invention, very materially im- Cil proves the filler and renders it better and more satisfactory for both smoking and chewing.

I have also discovered that a filler composed of long-cut tobacco, when densely compressed or compacted into a plug, cake or bar in accordance with my invention and then inclosed within a tobacco leaf wrapper, retains its condition and flavor for a much greater length of time than the fillers of ordinary plugs formed from strips;7 or otherwise and such long-cut iillers also retain their condition much better and longer and are more satisfactory than loosely packed cut tobacco such as now found upon the market.

I am aware that it was long ago proposed by patentees early in the art to compress fine-cut tobacco in paper and tin-foil cakes; to mold fine-cut tobacco into individual chews; to cut loZenge-like sections from a compressed sheet of tobacco comprising tobacco leaves and an interposed liller of ineecut tobacco; and to compress coarsely shredded stemmed tobacco into leafwrapped cakes or plugs; but so far as I am aware none of these proposed products have ever been placed upon the market; This is undoubtedly due to the fact that each of them is deficient or defective for one or more very obvious reasons. At any rate my improved product is clearly distinguishable from those mentioned above, as well as all others of which Iam aware, in that the filler thereof is composed of long-cut tobacco (line transverse sections of whole leaves or leaf portions, including membrane, and stem or mid and branch ribs) densely compressed or compacted into a cake, plug or bar and inclosed within a tobacco leaf wrapper compressed thereabout; as distinguished 'from plugs, cakes, lozenges and the like formed from stemmed iine cut or shredded tobacco and the distinction is readil discern- Y 7 ible as plugs made according to my inventien, when sliced transversely with a knife show very clearly the presence in the iiller of the thin, film-like stem and mid-rib secAA tions, which prominently appear as uniformly distributed throughout the darker surrounding plug section formed by the leaf membrane threads or strands.

In manufacturing smoking and chewing plugs according` to my invention I first prepare the filler from appropriately blended and cased or flavored whole leaves or leaf portions which are formed into a so-called cake7 The cake is then cut transversely in very thin slices across the leaves and through the stems or mid-ribs and branchribs very much like or resembling fine-cut tobacco except that the shreds or line strands carry thin film-like sections cut from the leaf stems or mid-ribs and branch-ribs, and it is tobacco prepared and cut in this manner that I term long-cut. I have discovered that the presence of the thin {ihnlike mid and branch rib sections in the finished filler when prepared according` to my invention, not only materially reduces the cost of the finished product, because .l entirely eliminate the tedious and expensive stemming or stripping l operation, but I have also discovered that such lilnrlike rib sections actually improve the burningv properties of the tobacco, give a milder smoke and chew, enable the shreds or strands to be more readily separated so as to be restored to substantially their original "lluil'y`7` condition after having been densely com pressed or compacted, and furthermore, they take up or absorb some of the ilowine uiees` or tobacco extracts that exude from the mass under the compressingaction and thus he,- come quite or nearly as rich in the tobacco goodness as the membraneous parts of the leaves. Indeed I have found that a much better and more uniform blend may be produced from a densely compressed or compacted filler mass of long-cut tobacco of the character stated than is possible with any other form of filler with which I am familiar and I attribute this largely to the presence in the iiller of the thin or lihn-like, mid and branch-rib sections.

After having been cut as described, the cake slices are treated substantially like the treatment given ordinary line-cut tobacro to brine* them into a more or less loose or fluffy condition. Any of the :pproved methods now empl yed in the niainrliaeiure of line-eut tobacco may be utilized to bring about this condition.

In preparing a plug with such a L lv I take filler measured quantity or mass of the prepared long-cut tobacco sui'iieient to form a plug, cake or bar containing` a suiv stantial number of smoking or chewing;- charges, the weight and bulk of the mass depending` upon the size of the plugdesired. rIlhis measured iiller mass is then placed in a mold of suitable shape and subjected to a preliminary comp 'essing action which imparts general form thereto. hul such preliminary compression is not sullicient to cause the cake or plug to retain its form dimensions. In fart when removed from the mold if left unrestrained` it will slowly swell or expand. Before it has had time to swell or expand to any very great extent however I wrap the cake or plugl within a tobacco-leaf wrapper to i omplelely inclose it. rI`he leaf wrapped plug is then subjected to powerful hydraulic pressure to densely compress or rompact the filler and closely apply the wrapper thereabout` after which the compressed plug` is placed in a finishing press where it is allowed to remain until it has become permanently set, after which it is ready to be packed for the fill loo

lOi'i market. Such a finished plug, except for the fact that a portion has been cut from one end thereof, is illustrated in Fig. l of the accompanying drawing, wherein A, designates the tobaccodeaf wrapper; B, the densely compacted filler of long-cut tobacco, andC, the iilmdike mid or stem and branch-rib sections.

The heavy pressure to which the plug has be subjected causes the long-cut filler strands to knit together closely and the inherent juices to flow from strand to strand so that a more perfect and uniform blend is secured. This is very important where the hller is made up of different kinds of tobacco, as the juices from one kind of tobacco will flow to and be taken up by another' kind and a new blend will thus be formed. This blending action is considerably aug mented by the presence in the ller of the thin film-like mid and branclrrib sections because these are very porous and will quickly absorb the eXuding juices. Notwithstanding the great pressure to which the filler has been subjected, it is, nevertheless, a simple matter to restore the filler or a removed portion thereof such as shown in Fig. 3, to its original loose and iiuffy state as shown in Fig. 4, in order to put it in the best possible condition for smoking. This fluffy condition may be brought about by simple manipulation of the portion removed. The manipulation may consist of rubbing the portion between the hands or with the fingers as now practised to some extent by pipe smokers in repreparing other kinds of tobacco; or the manipulation may consist in chewing the removed portion, as when the tobacco is used for chewing purposes. In either case the manipulation will restore the 'densely compacted filler to substantially its original fiuffy condition and when this takes place during the chewing action it will be found that a soft, smooth and spongy quid is provided which gives a delightful chew, notwithstanding the presence in the filler of the film-like cut stem or mid-rib sections. The fact is these sections are so thin that they are substantially as soft and tender as the membraneous portions of the leaves themselves and they therefore burn well in a pipe when the filler is smoked and also form a soft, smooth and .spongy chew.

The thin film-like stem or mid-rib sections are uniformly distributed throughout the ller mass and are readily distinguishable from the surrounding membraneous leaf portions which appear of darker color in the finished plug when the latter is cut through transversely as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. It seems that the presence of the film-like midrib sections in the densely compacted filler mass assists materially in the capability of the mass being restored by manipulation to its original fluffy condition. 'Ihis is probably due to the fact that the sections are not as rich in the gummy constituents of the tobacco as are the leaf membranes and therefore do not adhere or knit so closely at the various points in the mass where they occur. At any rate I consider this as a novel feature of the invention and one that contributes to the success of the aroduct.

, y improved plug can be manufactured less cost than plugs made from stemmed or stripped tobacco because I am able to eliminate entirely the tedious and expensive stemming or stripping operations, and furthermore because I am able` to utilize the whole tobacco leaf, stem and all, which is a very substantial item of saving. Besides these important considerations I have found that the tobacco holds its condition for a greater length of time for the reasons stated and in every way affords a better smoke and chew.

While I haveshown my improved densely compacted long cut filler as being preferably inclosed within a tobacco-leaf wrapper, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the use of such a wrapper, or to any wrapper at all, for that matter, as the said filler itself is considered to be entirely new in the art.

What I claim is:

l. Plug tobacco comprising a densely com pacted filler of long-cut tobacco and. a leaf tobacco wrapper.

2. A plug or bar of tobacco having a major portion or filler mass of longcut tobacco, and a. tobacco-leaf wrapper inclosing the same, the whole being densely compacted into a plug or bar from which a substantial number of smoking or chewing charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, said removed charge portions being capable of manipulation to bring the tobacco shreds into substantially their original fluffy condition.

3. A plug or bar of tobacco from which a substantial number of chewing or smoking charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, comprising a filler mass of long cut tobacco densely compacted into such a plug or bar, and a tobacco leaf wrapper inclosing the filler and compressed there about.

4. A plug or bar of tobacco from which a substantial number of chewing or smoking charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, comprising a filler mass of fine shreds cut transversely from unstemmed tobacco leaves or leaf portions, some of which shreds carry thin film-like stem or mid-rib sections, said filler mass being densely compacted into such a plug or bar, and a tobacco-leaf wrapper inclosing the filler and compressed thereabout.

5. A filler for a plug or bar of tobacco from which a substantial number of smoking or chewing charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, comprising a mass of long-cut tobacco densely compacted whereby the ystem or mid-rib sections in the mass become substantially impregnated with the tobacco extracts or juices expressed from the membraneous portions of the leaves in the compacting action.

6. rlhe method oi making a plug or bar of tobacco from which smoking or chewing` charges may be removed by the consumer as desired, which consists in preliniinarily compacting a mass of long-cut tobacco into the form of a plug or bar, loosely inclosing the latter within a tobacco leaf wrapper, and

then subjecting the wrapped plug or bar to further and heavier pressure sufficient to densely compact and set the iller, closely apply the wrapper thereto, and to cause the tobacco extracts or juices inherent in the iller mass to flow and impregnnte the filinlike stein or mid-rib sections t'orming a part of the filler and thus improve the blend thereof.

7. In a method oi' making plug tobacco, the steps which consist in preliminary torining a mass of long-cut tobacco, and subjecting the saine to pressure suliicient to densely compact and set the mass and to cause the tobacco extract or juices inherent therein to Alow and ilnpiegnate the stein or mid-rib sections in the mass, whereby the latter is rendered more unliorln in its smoking and chewing properties.

Signed at New York city, in the county of j ew York and Stute of New York, this 16th day of December, A. D. 1920.

CALEB C. DULA. 

